SoCal Municipality Bars Public Work Solicitation, ACLU Responds
A class-action suit filed on behalf of day laborers in Southern California argues that municipalities don’t have the right to bar citizens from seeking work in public places.
News of the suit comes through an ACLU attorney, Belinda Escobosa Helzer, who spoke to the ABC News about pending litigation against the local government of Costa Mesa, CA.
Costa Mesa is a coastal Orange County suburb with a population of over 100,000, according to recent estimates. Advocates for workers say that Costa Mesa police recently conducted “sting operations” in 2009 where they posed as employers, arresting those who solicited jobs on the street. Reports in the Orange Coast Voice, a local blog, quoted Costa Mesa Chief of Police Christopher Shawkey as stating that police were enforcing a city ordinance prohibiting locals from “soliciting employment, commercial, or charitable transactions on public streets in a manner that distracts motorists and creates a potential safety hazard” or in private parking lots where the owners have posted notices banning solicitation.
Though the story did not include comment from Costa Mesa’s legal representation, it’s likely that the municipality’s five member City Council and other public officials will field questions about the alleged city operations as well as general policy that affects local job seekers. Labor and employment lawyers and advocates will be watching this case and others across the country to see how federal, state and local courts handle this kind of situation.
As the economy continues to struggle and US Bureau of Labor statistics show higher than usual rates of unemployment, Americans are seeking jobs wherever they can find them. Efforts to ban job-hunting anywhere are likely to meet with some controversy. This case and others like it could have a major effect on how local governments can set policy controlling public assembly and free speech and where local police departments can draw the line on disruptive behavior or other justifications for arresting individuals who are seeking work.
Monheit is the managing lawyer at Monheit Law, outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has practiced law since 1989. Michael Monheit was the managing attorney of the law offices of Herbert Monheit — now Silverman and Fodera — a firm founded by... Michael Monheit→
